From k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com Sat Aug 1 03:03:42 2020 From: k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com (Jim Brown) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 00:03:42 -0700 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> Message-ID: <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> On 7/31/2020 8:51 AM, Joe wrote: > Has anyone here used a Behringer XENYX 802 as a pre amp for a low level > output Dynamic type of Mic? A preamp is un-necessary for dynamic mics in nearly all modern ham rigs (i.e., within the last 50 years). All that is needed is to wire it correctly. In the pro audio world, Behringer long ago earned a reputation for low build quality, lousy support, and poor business practices. There are plenty of good alternatives. 73, Jim K9YC From dj7ww at t-online.de Sat Aug 1 08:05:48 2020 From: dj7ww at t-online.de (dj7ww at t-online.de) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 14:05:48 +0200 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> Message-ID: All older Icom rigs needed a preamp for use with a dynamic mic. I use a DBX286 for that function with Sennheiser MD421 on my IC-765, IC-735, IC-740 and IC-751A. Without the preamp but mic gain set to 11 specified output will be reached but VOX will not function correctly. I guess for ham radio use Behringer stuff will be more then adequate. 73 Peter -----Original Message----- From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces+dj7ww=t-online.de at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Brown On 7/31/2020 8:51 AM, Joe wrote: > Has anyone here used a Behringer XENYX 802 as a pre amp for a low level > output Dynamic type of Mic? A preamp is un-necessary for dynamic mics in nearly all modern ham rigs (i.e., within the last 50 years). All that is needed is to wire it correctly. In the pro audio world, Behringer long ago earned a reputation for low build quality, lousy support, and poor business practices. There are plenty of good alternatives. 73, Jim K9YC _______________________________________________ CQ-Contest mailing list CQ-Contest at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest From rjairam at gmail.com Sat Aug 1 10:11:29 2020 From: rjairam at gmail.com (rjairam at gmail.com) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 10:11:29 -0400 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> Message-ID: I use one in live sound and A/V applications. The Behringer mixers are OK. Not great, but OK. For the price they will do the job. However, consider the Yamaha MG10 instead. I've had better experience with Yamaha and they also have XLR balanced outputs. 73 Ria N2RJ On Fri, 31 Jul 2020 at 13:55, Joe wrote: > > Has anyone here used a Behringer XENYX 802 as a pre amp for a low level > output Dynamic type of Mic? > > Joe WB9SBD > > _______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest mailing list > CQ-Contest at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest From nss at mwt.net Sat Aug 1 10:18:30 2020 From: nss at mwt.net (Joe) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 09:18:30 -0500 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> Message-ID: <51d29947-c822-b392-983f-64195aa2fe6f@mwt.net> Thanks Jim for the info on the Behringer possible Issues. BUT.. I am looking for ideas of a Mic. pre-amp. Now some here may have seen the BAD Can-O-Worms that happened on a certain contest club E-Mail list. I do NOT want that to happen here. Please.... But the reply you made below about being not needed is not 100% true. This is where all the fighting and arguing started. This has to do with specific items. Mainly these three. 1- A Heil HC-4 Mic.? NOT a HC-5 or any other Mic but a HC-4 and ONLY talking about a HC-4. 2- An Icom IC-7300.? NOT a 7000, or a 9100 ONLY talking about an IC-7300. 3- A typical DELL Windows 10 Desktop computer, with a soundblaster soundcard. The story goes, I bought one of the last headsets that Heil made that still had the HC-4 element in it. I love the sound, it is very similar to the old school Astatic D-104 or the Shure 444. Awesome! And on my Old Kenwood TS-430S It works great with just the simple 1mf phantom power blocking cap that Heil recommends. But that old Kenwood was designed to work with low level output mic's. When we wanted to do a Multi op effort in Phone SS we wanted to for sure use that headset and mic. But when we tried to use it on the stations IC-7300 the modulation was extremely Low. Doing research we learned like on many web sites, and on the Facebook 7300 owners page this is extremely common. It is sooo common, that even Bob Heil right on his website even specifically covers the subject and says. Max the Mic Gain, and use the compressor as a secondary mic gain to get enough drive! HEIL EVEN SAYS THIS! right from their site...... All Things iCOM Microphone Basics DSP and Mic Gain Settings When using a dynamic element on rigs like iCOMs, which were designed for electret microphone elements, one must not be afraid to do two things: _*(1) utilize the full range of Mic Gain available*_, and *_(2) turn on the Compression, using the Compression Level control as a secondary Mic Gain control if necessary._* I was told and I abbreviate here, this statement is pure "BS" Even tho it is copied from Heils own site. I tried to explain That maybe for those that it works for are yellers. Guys that always talk very loudly into their mic's. I see it when doing multi op's all the time. And they don't even know or think they are talking loudly. Like this guy, he doesn't seem loud yet he is talking so loud you can hear his voice bouncing off the walls. And as his excitement grows he gets even louder! https://youtu.be/THXCA-6S_Fc There under 99% circumstances in my 45 years of being a Ham, I have never had to talk that loud EVER! We always talk at a level that is clear and pronounce as well as possible yet at a volume level that as long as we are wearing headphones our speech is low enough that the others in the multi op effort can actually sleep in the same room! There never should be a need to have to speak this loudly as in that video. NEVER should it be needed. Plus, when we wanted to record wav files for CQ's etc. the HC-4 with the blocking cap of course, even with every gain maxed out on the computer, there was not enough audio. So the station owner hooked up that Behringer, now the Behringer XENYX 802 has a switchable Phantom power option, which is good because you can't apply any power to a dynamic mic. It may or may not hurt the mic. At best it makes it not work at all. At worst could smoke the thing.? And the Behringer XENYX 802 unit if it put power into the dynamic mic, to the Behringer XENYX 802 unit the HC-4 looks like a dead short, and it could even smoke The Behringer itself. SO to play it safe Steve put between the Mic, and the Behringer XENYX 802, an Isolation transformer. Heil says to just use a 1Mf cap. anyway this seemed better anyway it provided the isolation from any Phantom power if it should by accident get turned on. PLUS this unit looks like it is also an Impedance Transformer unit also. First impedances The Mic. states it is a 600 Ohm unit. The Behringer XENYX 802? says it likes a Minimum of 15K ohms and Optimal is around 100K ohms. Quite a bit of mismatch. Now this isolator/transformer I can not find a LOT of data on. like ratios of transforming or how it even works because the labeling is somewhat confusing. Make & Model, Radio Shack, 2740017 I know this group won't pass images, but I have the schematic for it, and it shows it and how it can be made to transform high or low.? but it's somewhat confusing. Anyway the Behringer and this isolator/transformer worked and worked great. We saved a lot of voices from not having to talk LOUDLY. I mean the guy operating could be soo quiet that people still in the room gould be like 6 feet away, and not understand what he is saying because it is too faint. It is just that it the Behringer is way overkill and large. A recent QST article describes this exact problem and how to make a simple pre-amp to fix this. A mic preamp for using a dynamic mic with radios designed for electrets in the Hints and Kinks column of the Dec 18 QST I think it was 2018 year? He made it very simple, but when we tried we had RF issues getting into it that we just could not fix. Just looking for ideas of alternatives, and even withwhat is happening with the Behringer and that transformer thing.? being 600 ohm mic and way high impedance on the amp. Joe WB9SBD On 8/1/2020 2:03 AM, Jim Brown wrote: > On 7/31/2020 8:51 AM, Joe wrote: >> Has anyone here used a Behringer XENYX 802 as a pre amp for a low >> level output Dynamic type of Mic? > > A preamp is un-necessary for dynamic mics in nearly all modern ham > rigs (i.e., within the last 50 years). All that is needed is to wire > it correctly. > > In the pro audio world, Behringer long ago earned a reputation for low > build quality, lousy support, and poor business practices. There are > plenty of good alternatives. > > 73, Jim K9YC > _______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest mailing list > CQ-Contest at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest > From k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com Sat Aug 1 13:39:17 2020 From: k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com (Jim Brown) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 10:39:17 -0700 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <51d29947-c822-b392-983f-64195aa2fe6f@mwt.net> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net> <1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> <51d29947-c822-b392-983f-64195aa2fe6f@mwt.net> Message-ID: <5d181e59-375f-ef3e-5c14-0e0422d27fcd@audiosystemsgroup.com> Sounds like that Icom is badly designed. Ten Tec had this figured out correctly 50 years ago! Look at Radio Design Labs for a mic preamp. They serve broadcasting. Ignore impedance matching -- any preamp will drive that radio. 73, Jim K9YC On 8/1/2020 7:18 AM, Joe wrote: > 1- A Heil HC-4 Mic.? NOT a HC-5 or any other Mic but a HC-4 and ONLY > talking about a HC-4. > > 2- An Icom IC-7300.? NOT a 7000, or a 9100 ONLY talking about an IC-7300. From dj7ww at t-online.de Sat Aug 1 17:09:50 2020 From: dj7ww at t-online.de (dj7ww at t-online.de) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2020 23:09:50 +0200 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Dynamic Mic. Pre-Amp? In-Reply-To: <51d29947-c822-b392-983f-64195aa2fe6f@mwt.net> References: <6afa46e6-2412-852b-2fdc-43d328edc4a7@mwt.net><1ea07b66-3bd5-11f4-bb70-7eb92299bdcf@audiosystemsgroup.com> <51d29947-c822-b392-983f-64195aa2fe6f@mwt.net> Message-ID: <637009F6CE1C493583752E34700A33FF@DJ7WW2> The mic input impedance is 2600 ohms balanced at -130dB sensitivity, so perfect for the Heil capsules. https://mediadl.musictribe.com/media/sys_master/hcb/hea/8849649041438.pdf 73 Peter -----Original Message----- From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces+dj7ww=t- This has to do with specific items. Mainly these three. The Mic. states it is a 600 Ohm unit. The Behringer XENYX 802? says it likes a Minimum of 15K ohms and Optimal is around 100K ohms. From kzerohb at gmail.com Sun Aug 2 10:50:39 2020 From: kzerohb at gmail.com (Hans Brakob) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2020 14:50:39 +0000 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Envelope Please..... Message-ID: NAQP ?Best Name? award And the winner is....... ......KL7SB! 73, de Hans, K?HB ?Just a Boy and his Radio?? From sbloom at acsalaska.net Sun Aug 2 14:39:22 2020 From: sbloom at acsalaska.net (sbloom at acsalaska.net) Date: Sun, 02 Aug 2020 14:39:22 -0400 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Envelope Please..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1596393562.g5vbei924ggc4cgo@mail.acsalaska.net> I've often been accused of being full of sh*t .. might as well prove it. :) 73 Steve KL7SB? AKGuano AK ? On Sun, 2 Aug 2020 14:50:39 +0000, Hans Brakob wrote: NAQP ?Best Name? award And the winner is....... ......KL7SB! 73, de Hans, K?HB ?Just a Boy and his Radio?? _______________________________________________ CQ-Contest mailing list CQ-Contest at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest ? From w1srd at yahoo.com Sun Aug 2 16:42:19 2020 From: w1srd at yahoo.com (Steve Dyer W1SRD) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2020 13:42:19 -0700 Subject: [CQ-Contest] Envelope Please..... In-Reply-To: <1596393562.g5vbei924ggc4cgo@mail.acsalaska.net> References: <1596393562.g5vbei924ggc4cgo@mail.acsalaska.net> Message-ID: <0a38ffd5-606b-2cfe-8880-2a5eaaa1a5a4@yahoo.com> I'm sure you got a ton of fill requests. I know I was one. I didn't believe what my fingers typed! Got a good chuckle. Thank you for that! 73, Steve W1SRD > > > > I've often been accused of being full of sh*t .. might as well prove it. :) > > 73 Steve KL7SB? AKGuano AK > > > > On Sun, 2 Aug 2020 14:50:39 +0000, Hans Brakob wrote: > > NAQP ?Best Name? award > > And the winner is....... > > ......KL7SB! > > 73, de Hans, K?HB > ?Just a Boy and his Radio?? > _______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest mailing list > CQ-Contest at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest > > > > > _______________________________________________ > CQ-Contest mailing list > CQ-Contest at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest From jjreisert at alum.mit.edu Mon Aug 3 21:21:55 2020 From: jjreisert at alum.mit.edu (Jim Reisert AD1C) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2020 19:21:55 -0600 Subject: [CQ-Contest] CTY-3013 Country Files - 04 August 2020 Message-ID: The Country (CTY) Files were updated on 04 August 2020: https://www.country-files.com/cty-3013-04-august-2020/ For installation instructions, start at: https://www.country-files.com/ Hover your mouse over the word Contest in the menu, then select the software you are using. To install the file, follow the link to your software at the top of the page. If you are interested in a bigger CTY.DAT for everyday logging, you can get it here: https://www.country-files.com/big-cty-04-august-2020/ Note that the release notes (and Version Entity) for this larger file are different than what is shown below. There is a separate link to them. As a reminder, there is an RSS feed of the latest country file announcements: https://www.country-files.com/feed/ Here are the release notes: 3 August 2020 (CTY-3013) VER20200803, Version entity is Cocos (Keeling) Islands, VK9C Added/changed Entities/Prefixes/Callsigns: * MM1FEO is Shetland Islands, *GM/s * ED3T/6 is Balearic Islands, EA6 * TO0Z is St. Barthelemy, FJ * GB9LQV is Northern Ireland, GI * GB1STC is Wales, GW * K0XP, K2RP, K9JF and KC8J are all United States, K in CQ zone 3, ITU zone 6 * WL5H is United States, K in CQ zone 4, ITU zone 7 * K4AVX, K4BWP, KD4TRG and WA4JA are all United States, K in CQ zone 4, ITU zone 8 * W0NA, W0QQG, W5JR and W8BAR are all United States, K in CQ zone 5, ITU zone 8 * KD0AA is Guam, KH2 * K5PKT, KC0HFI, KC6MCC, KC8JNV, KJ6CPN, KO4BNK and W1JJS are all Hawaii, KH6 * KC7DNT, N0JOB and N5AAR are all Alaska, KL * K4J and N4NDL are both Puerto Rico, KP4 * TA1UT/3 is Asiatic Turkey, TA * RV1CC/1 is in ITU zone 19, not ITU zone 29 * R90WDW, R90WDWR, R9JBN/4, RC8C/6 and RD9CX/6 are all European Russia, UA * RU9MV/0 is Asiatic Russia, UA9 in CQ zone 19, ITU zone 25 Removed Entities/Prefixes/Callsigns: * IT9YBL/SG in Sicily, *IT9 * DM19ERZ/MAF in Fed. Rep. of Germany, DL * NHS in England, G * GB2OL in Scotland, GM * 4U9STAYHOME in Italy, I * IQ0ID/P and IQ0NU/P in Sardinia, IS * K2DRH and NW7R in United States, K * KG4MA in Guantanamo Bay, KG4 * KE5VQB in Hawaii, KH6 * N6QEK in Alaska, KL * N2IBR in Puerto Rico, KP4 * LU5QR/Q in Argentina, LU * R100IK, R20RUS and R8FF/P in European Russia, UA * R8FF/8 and RU20RU in Asiatic Russia, UA9 73 - Jim AD1C -- Jim Reisert AD1C, , https://www.ad1c.us From dfaklis at frontiernet.net Tue Aug 4 20:01:44 2020 From: dfaklis at frontiernet.net (dfaklis at frontiernet.net) Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2020 00:01:44 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [CQ-Contest] SSB Contest Tonight in NA - Tuesday References: <1088337846.34919.1596585704651.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1088337846.34919.1596585704651@mail.yahoo.com> Phone Fray - Tuesday Evening, 10:30pm EDT (0230-0300z Wednesday), 30-minute SSB contest.? Please bring a friend and introduce a new contester into the mix.? One QSO or many, please enter your score. The Phone Fray is weekly and mirrors NAQP SSB; exchange name and S/P/C, mults per band. Suggested center frequencies are:? 21.325, 14.250, 7.175, 3.800, 1.875.? General Ops can be found above 3.800. 20 may be open at the start, then folks move down to 40, 80, and Q's are had on 160 in the last 5-10 minutes. Rules are here:? http://www.perluma.com/Phone_Fray_Contest_Rules.pdf No logs are submitted, just report scores to http://www.3830scores.com Please forward this email to your clubs and amateurs that might be interested.?? Great for new contesters and veterans alike. Thanks! 73, Dean, NW2K From k6mr at outlook.com Wed Aug 5 00:12:30 2020 From: k6mr at outlook.com (Ken K6MR) Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2020 04:12:30 +0000 Subject: [CQ-Contest] NS RTTY this Thursday In-Reply-To: References: , <1614E768849FA33E.25117@groups.io>, <1614E8E9D749C4BA.25117@groups.io>, <1617186675D87E66.8645@groups.io>, <161964CF0B97CD9B.5307@groups.io>, <161B620F86A523E0.14696@groups.io>, <161D952BD82C9449.27211@groups.io>, <161FAD359D01D7D3.23362@groups.io>, , , Message-ID: Greetings Diddlers: A light turnout last week, but two new stations are hanging in there: Kevin, K6TD was back for his second time. Mark, AA2MA did his first attempt (and with QRP) and was totally successful. Welcome and hope to see you printing again. Regulars K7SV and N3QE are having a week on week tussle to see who the king of RTTY Sprints is going to be. After a couple of dead heats it seems to be moving back and forth a bit now. WAE CW is up this weekend, so if you need some RTTY time try the RTTYOPs Weekend Sprint. Turnout has been pretty light, but you never know who you might find out there. The details for our little get together this week: Friday, 7 Aug 2020, 0145Z - 0215Z (Thursday, 6 Aug in NA) -- 1845 - 1915 PDT -- 2145 - 2215 EDT -- (others in-between those two) -- 160: Around 1805 (Last two to five minutes seem to be popular?) -- 80/40/20/15 +84 kHz up from the band edge <--NOTE -- Same band dupes ok after 1 intervening Q. -- 1 kHz QSY rule, otherwise standard Sprint rules -- Mults per band. -- 100W power limit Please visit http://www.ncccsprint.com/rttyns.html for complete rules and links to other info. If you find any problems with the web pages, please let me know so we can get them fixed. If you would like to receive all the latest info about NS as well as a have a place for comments and questions, sign up for the NS mailing list: https://groups.io/g/nccc-blue Contestonlinescore.com has a slot set up for us if you?d like to make sure your logger is talking to the world. Select NCCC NA RTTY Sprint. Report scores to 3830scores.com, and join us at 0300Z on 3610 kHz (+/- a few for ongoing groups) for comments and questions (and dinner menus). Don?t forget to check out RTTYops Weekday and Weekend Sprints. Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday (in NA) for you hopelessly addicted Sprinters. Diddle diddle, Ken K6MR From dick.w7zr at gmail.com Fri Aug 7 15:13:24 2020 From: dick.w7zr at gmail.com (Richard Zalewski) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2020 12:13:24 -0700 Subject: [CQ-Contest] RFI into UPS Message-ID: I have a 800VA UPS that trips out on the low bands (40,80 &160). Have tons of ferrite on all devices connected to the UPS. I removed one device at a time and still tripping. No other device in or out of the shack is showing RFI problems on these bands. Anyone ever experience and fix this sort of issue? Tnx Richard *W7ZR* ex:5C5Z, CN2ZR, K2JSP, W6SBZ, W7KXR, K9ZIJ, W9KNF, W0KDF, W0MQU, J68ZR, KC6ZR, PJ4/W7ZR, KH2,W7ZR, KH6/W7ZR, V31ZR, VK4AAZ, XE2DV *Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer* From bparry at rgv.rr.com Fri Aug 7 16:37:11 2020 From: bparry at rgv.rr.com (Bill Parry) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2020 15:37:11 -0500 Subject: [CQ-Contest] QSL Card Credit Message-ID: <001501d66cfa$8783e480$968bad80$@rgv.rr.com> Since I am cooped up in the house for the foreseeable future I was looking at my credits on LOTW. I noticed that the credits for many of the OLD QSL cards that I had credited from back in the dark ages were only for the country and those records for Band, and Mode are not there. I guess back in the day, they only were concerned only about DXCC country and not Band Countries and modes. Is it possible to ferret those old cards back out of my files and resubmit them to get credit for those Band Countries and modes? I am really surprised that there are so many of them. I didn't realize that I had that many countries back in the 60s and 70s. LOTW has made things so easy I guess that I just haven't been paying attention. Bill W5VX From k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com Fri Aug 7 17:36:14 2020 From: k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com (Jim Brown) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2020 14:36:14 -0700 Subject: [CQ-Contest] RFI into UPS In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <2c27fca3-6652-7221-6f64-79088367c3c1@audiosystemsgroup.com> On 8/7/2020 12:13 PM, Richard Zalewski wrote: > Have tons > of ferrite on all devices connected to the UPS. Which ferrites? Just clamped on or multi-turn? How many turns? On the power line too? What antennas on those bands? How close to the shack? Serious chokes at feedpoints? What are you doing for bonding in your home and station? 73, Jim K9YC